The Sea and Cake to release new album, tour, repeat action every two years or so until the world ends

In the mood for some smooth electro-tinged post-rock with a heavy dollop of breezy pop mixed in to make it all go down nice and easy? Well, then I’ve got just what the doctor ordered: a new full-length from The Sea and Cake titled Runner, due out September 18 on the band’s longtime label, Thrill Jockey, following up on 2011’s mini-album The Moonlight Butterfly (TMT Review). Can’t wait that long? Check out the album’s first single, “Harps,” for a first taste to tide you over:

If the two months until the whole album drops sounds like a struggle, though, you might want to take a stroll through The Sea and Cake’s back catalog, which Thrill Jockey is currently in the process of reissuing as part of their 20th anniversary celebration. 1995‘s Nassau and 1997’s The Fawn are already available, with the remainder of their 90s and early 00s output coming soon (check out 1995’s The Biz in particular, my personal favorite).

Following the release of the new album, Sam Prekop and co. will be hitting the road to play live in big cities and college towns across the US and Canada. The longtime group of musicians are consummate professionals and their live shows are always stellar, so make sure and catch them when they roll through your town this fall, especially if you’re a fan of breathy vocals, which they know how to BRING.

It’s Christmas Eve. You ask your parents if you can go to bed early, because you know that the sooner you fall asleep, the “sooner” you can open your presents the following morning. It’s Christmas Day. The sun is moments away from revealing itself over the horizon, but your excitement is such that you can’t resist preempting your parents and tiptoeing downstairs to see what marvelous gifts Santa Claus has bestowed upon you this year. Nobody would mind if you opened just one of your presents now, would they?

You immediately set your sights upon one, cube-shaped gift in particular; it’s larger and more awesomely adorned than all the rest. As you carefully peel back the shimmery silver wrapping paper, a light peeks through. The luminescence grows with each successive tear. Realization sets in. You’ve just acquired your own… BRAND. NEW. RECORD LABEL.

According to Dummy Magazine, that’s more or less how Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) and Joel Ford came to be at the helm of Mexican Summer’s Software imprint. As opposed to formally signing Ford & Lopatin ahead of their debut album Channel Pressure (TMT Review), the folks at Mexican Summer generously offered the duo a portion of their budget to release whatever music they wanted. And so they seem to be doing!

This August will bring new music from London’s Blanck Mass (Benjamin Power from Fuck Buttons), as well as Tropa Macaca, a noise duo from Portugal. Blanck Mass will be releasing a 21-minute 12-inch White Math/Polymorph on August 20, and on the same day, Tropa Macaca will be releasing their fourth album Ectoplasma, also as a 12-inch. Check out the individual release pages here and here.

Also, I’d keep an eye on the Software website itself, if for no other reason than that vintage lightning bolt gif at the bottom of the page.

If I was able to write this news story by slapping pieces of raw meat with a typewriter, I would, for this is news of Matmos, prime purveyors of found sound beats! It’s been a while since the darling duo of Martin Schmidt and Drew Daniel released an album, with 2008’s Supreme Balloon (TMT Review), courtesy of their longtime label Matador, marking their last major release.

Well, they’re officially back, and change is afoot. Matmos recently announced that they’ve been signed to Thrill Jockey, participating in the label’s upcoming 20th anniversary shows in Baltimore and New York, and now comes news of an impending new EP, their first for the label! While no details on the sound of the new release have been announced, we do know it will be titled The Ganzfield EP and will be released on October 16. It’s probably also safe to assume that at least one track will feature recordings of meemaws played back through vintage tape records to kindergarteners who will be recorded singing along, which will then be spliced together with burping noises and dripping faucets to produce the most toe-tapping-est beats of 2012. It’s nice to have you back, boys!

Guys, I know this is a little scary, but just keep calm and we’ll get through this together. We at TMT don’t usually negotiate with singer-songwriters, but in Bat for Lashes’ (Natasha Khan’s) case, we’ve decided to hear her demands and pass them along to our readers. After all, you don’t want to mess with anyone who is friends with Scott Walker. I mean, we’ve all seen him punching sides of beef with his fists, right? Right. Okay, then. Here we go.

First, Natasha really wants you all to know that she has released a new song called “Laura.” She says it’d be nice if you all took a minute to tweet about what a beautiful name for a song that is. Second, She also wants you to know that “Laura” is the first new track from her highly-anticipated-among-people-who-like-anticipating-new-albums-from-Bat-for-Lashes new album The Haunted Man, which is hitting the streets on October 23 in the US via EMI’s mom n’ pop indie-rock imprint, Capitol Records, and follows 2009’s Two Suns (TMT Review). She also mentioned that Pitchfork immediately named “Laura” a “Best New Track,” possibly without even listening to it first, because they could see in her facial expressions how haunting and beautiful and ghostly and good it was going to be and definitely not because of the whole Scott Walker-punching-meat thing.

You’re doing great, everyone. We’re almost done here. Natasha just wants you to slowly scroll down from here in a calm, orderly fashion and check out the new single, as well as its accompanying music video, which features some really artistic things like hair and clothes and people. Feel free to leave positive comments about those things. If you can’t think of anything positive to say, simply tell her that everything “flows really well.” Please comply with these requests as quickly as you can, readers, and this will all be over in a few minutes. I’m going to check those things out myself now as I eagerly await the release of the new Bat for Lashes album. Hail Scott Walker.

Or maybe not. In any case, the dark country tunes that comprise Fear Fun, Tillman’s first release as Father John Misty, have received glowing reviews all over the place — the album reached the #4 spot on the CMJ Top 200 chart and #1 on the FMQB charts. Father John Misty has performed on Letterman and Last Call with Carson Daly and covered The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” for The A.V. Club’s Undercover series, and he’s released videos for “Hollywood Forever Cemetery” and “Nancy From Now On” and “This Is Sally Hatchet,”, and, as far as I can tell, not a single tear has been shed.

After playing a couple late summer festivals, Father John Misty will be hitting the road for a fall tour, even making an appearance on two crazy cruise ships in December. He’s skipping over the Blue Ridge Mountains though, and not even coming close to Mykonos.

This warning goes out to all bands going on tour with Wild Nothing. You may party hard, but those guys party harder. Yes, I realize Jack Tatum and tourmates seem like they’re the presidents of The Cure fanclub. Yes, I realize that’s the not of kind of dudes that you think might party hard. Well, buddy, put on your “I’m wrong” hat, because you’re wrong. These guys make Van Halen look like Van Morrison and they may Van Morrison look like Van Morrissey. Van Morrissey is my Van Morrison and Morrissey cover band. We don’t party very hard.

Similarly-minded janglers DIIV are about to be in for a harsh lesson about partying. They’re accompanying Wild Nothing on their September tour of America. In actuality, they’re accompanying Wild Nothing on their September tour of UNITED STATES OF PARTYING. Also, Canada. In case you’ve forgotten from your own days of blackout drinking, Wild Nothing are releasing a new album called Nocturne on August 28 through Captured Tracks. All 10 songs are about keggers. Every song is about keggers. You’ve never heard a song in your life that wasn’t about keggers.